Motor-car traffic system.



PATENTED MAY 21, 1907.

R. nms. MOTOR GAR TRAFFIC SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB 5. 1907.

WITNESSES A TTORNE Vs ROBERT T. YATES, OF LYTTON SPRINGS, TEXAS.

MOTOR-CAR TRAFFIC SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 21, 190,7.

Application filed February 5, 1907. Serial No. 355,910.

To all whom, it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, ROBERT T. Yarns, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lytton Springs, in the county of Caldwell and State ofTexas, have invented a new and useful Motor-Car Traffic System, of whichthe following is a specification. M

This invention has reference to improvements in motor car trafficsystems, and its object is to provide a means whereby motor cars may beconstrained to move in a predetermined path without the volition of thechauffeur, so that motor cars may be adapted for use in suburban trafficin place of the ordinary trolley cars.

The invention consists essentially of a trackage or narrow bearingsurface for the wheels of a motor car, which issufliciently wide toaccommodate such wheels and made of some hard, firm material embedded inthe ground along the desired line of way. In.- termediate of thesurfaces designed for receiving the wheels, there is located a guiderail, and attached to the motor car there is a clamping means forengaging the said guide rail and holding the motor vehicle to saidtrack. This clamping device consists of two parts which may be movedlaterally with relation to the track for bringing the clamps inoperative relation with the track and for releasing the clamp from thetrack, these operations being under the control of the operator of themotor car.

The prime purpose of this invention is to provide for sparsely settledsuburban terri tory a traffic system which will require but littlecapital to install it as compared with the ordinary trolley systems nowin use, so that sections may be developed where the cost of an ordinarytrolley system would be prohibitive.

The invention will be fully understood fromthe following descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part of thisspecification, in which,

Figure l is a perspective view of a portion of the improved road-bed andof the fore part of a motor car with my improved clamping means attachedthereto and in operative relation to a guide-rail in the road-bed; andFig. 2 is a detail view of a portion of the clamping mechanism.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. l a motor car 1 of anysuitable or approved type, the fore part of the car and one of thesupporting wheels 2, together with the cross rod 3 of the steeringmechanism, only being shown.

The road-bed is provided with two parallel narrow strips 4-4 ofasphaltum, cement, well-compacted cinders, or any other suitablematerial which will form a hard bearing surface for. the wheels. Suchstrips or tracks for the wheels may be formed at much less expense thanthe cost of laying trackage such as is usually employed for trolleycars. The

two strips 44 are spaced apart sufficiently to accommodate motor cars ofordinary construction; or, if desired, special cars may be built ofnarrow width and the strips 4c 4: will be in this case spacedcorrespondingly nearer together.

Intermediate of the two track strips 4 4 and parallel therewith there isa rail 5 supported at suitable intervals upon cross-ties 6 embedded inthe ground between the trackage surfaces 44. This rail 5 may be theusual T-rail employed upon railroads of or dinary construction, butsince it is intended as a guide rail only and not to carry any weight,it will be of light construction as compared with ordinary trolleyrails. It

will now be seen that when the front running gear of a motor car iscoupled to this rail so as to move freely along the same but heldthereto in such manner that the fore wheels 2 are compelled to travelupon the surfaces 4 4, there is produced a systemwherein ordinary motorcars designed for the transportation of passengers or freight replacethe expensive trolley cars of the usual trolley system, and each motorcar being a power unit, it is independent of every other car of thesystem, and all central stations and electrio power systems that haveheretofore been generally employed for suburban traffic are avoided, sothat the running expenses of a system such as contemplated by myinvention are much lower than those of the ordinary trolley system andit can therefore be utilized under conditions where the expense ofinstalling an ordinary trolley system would be too great.

Coming, now, to the construction of the connecting devices between themotor vehicle and the guide-rail, which devices constitute a part of mypresent invention, there is shown a frame 6 carried by the lower ends ofdivergent arms 7, the upper ends of which latter are secured by clips 8to the cross-rod 3 of the steering gear. At the upper end of the frame 6below the arms 7 there are two forwardly-projecting parallel ears 9-9,and at the bottom of the frame, which latter terminates at a point ashort distance above the rail 5, there are formed two other parallelforwardly-projecting ears 10, the outer ends 11 of which diverge asindicated in the draw ing. Between the ears 10,-the frame 6 carries aU-shaped frame 12 with portions parallel with the ears and otherportions 13 converging and united at their outer ends by a web 14. Theparallel portion of the ears 10 and the corresponding portions of theframe 12 between these ears coact to form pockets for two jaw-supporting plates 15'15 pivotally hung at their upper ends from a bolt orpivot-rod 16 passing through these, jaw-supporting plates and throughthe ears 9 on the frame 6. These j aw-supporting plates 15 are eachunder the control of a lever arm 17 projecting up to a point beneath thecarriage and connected by links 18 to the operating means within reachof the chauffeur, but which means are not shown in the drawing. Near thelower ends these two jaw-supporting plates are connected by a bolt orguide 19 allowing a certain degree of lateral movement of thejaw-supporting plates, and surroundingthis rod 19 and interposed betweenthe said plates 15 is a compression spring 20. Now, when the levers 17are manipulated in the proper manner, the plates 15 will be moved aroundthe pivot rod 16 in'such manner as to be swung forward in the directionof travel of the motor vehicle and carried out of the pockets formed bythe frame 12 and parallel portions of the ears 10. As soon as theyescape from the pockets the plates will be forced laterally apart by thespring 20, the said plates being so loosely pivoted upon the rod 16 asto permit of this movement. When, however, the levers 17 are manipulatedto swing the plates 15 toward the rear, they will engage with thedivergent ends 1 1 of the ears 10 and be thereby guided into the pocketsformed between these ears 10 and theframe 12, the spring 20 being bythis action compressed.

To the lower end of each jaw-carrying plate 15 is firmly secured a clampjaw 21 consisting of a U-shaped frame with the mouth thereof oppositethe tread of the rail 5, there being one jaw on one side of the rail andanother jaw on the other side of the rail, and the two jaws beingarranged in opposition. Each jaw carries a number of grooved rollers 22journaled in an upright position upon journal pins 23 fast in the topand bot-- tom legs of the U-shaped clamp jaw frames. These frames 21have at each end projecting, pointed deflector fingers 24 so arrangedthat when the arms are brought toward each other the points of thesefingers 24 will come in conjunction over the center of the tread of therail and thereby tend to throw off any obstruction which may have becomelodged on the rail.

The frame 6 is made rigid with respect to the motor car by means of abrace 25 passing through said frame near its lower end and appropriatelybent to grasp and be secured to the rod 3. Now, when the plates 15 areseated in the pockets formed on the frame 6 as before described, thetwo. jaws 21 are brought together sufficiently to cause the groovedrollers-22 to grasp the tread of the rail 5 on each side, so that themotor car is held to the rail against either vertical or lateraldisplacement relative thereto, but movement of the said motor car alongsaid rail is not opposed in any manner but is facilitated by the rollers22which act in this connection as anti-friction rollers, so that thejaws of the clamp are, in fact, anti-friction clamping jaws forconfining the motor car to the line of travel directed by the rail. Now,it will be evident that so long as the motor car is clamped to the railthrough the rod 3 of the steering gear, the car must perforce travelupon the treadways 4 provided for the purpose, and it will be seen thatthe motor car will be held to the prescribed path whether the same bestraight or curved.

It will be observed that the construction of the clamping device is suchthat any fricti on which may begenerated by the forward motion of themotor car will tend to keep the clamp firmly seated in the pocketsreceiving the clamp plates or hangers 15, and that there is, therefore,no danger that the clamp willl become disconnected from the guide rai 5.

When it is desired to release the motor car from the rail, so that thecar may travel under the volition of the chauffeur, it is only necessaryto move the plates 15 in a forward direction around the pivot point 16when the spring 20 will cause the diverging of the clamp jaws as soon asthe plates 15 have escaped from the pockets; and in order to clamp thevehicle to the rail it is only necessary to reverse the order of thisprocedure.

It will be further observed from the foregoing description that theclampingdevice is intended to be so constructed and attached to the carand to be so under the control of the operator as to fully carry out thepurposes for which it is designed. Therefore,

I am not confined to the exact structure shown and described but mayvary the same without departing from the scope and spirit of myinvention.

I claim 1. A motor car traffic system comprising a guide-rail fordirecting the line of travel of the motor car, a clamp for the samecomprising a suitable supporting frame, clamping said frame andconstructed to force said jaws toward each other when the hangers aremoved. rearwardly.

3. A motor car trallic system comprising a guide-rail for the motor carand a clamp for coupling the motor car to the guide-rail comprising asuitable supporting frame connected to the motor car, clamp jawsprovided with anti-friction roller-engaging surfaces, hanger platescarrying said clamp jaws and pivotally supported from theaforesaidframe, a spring tending to separate said. hangers and the jawscarried thereby, pockets formed on the frame for receiving the hangerplates when the jaws are in operative relation to the rail, and guidesleading-t0 said pockets and causing, in conjunction with the spring, alateral movement of the clamp jaws relative to the rail.

4. A motor car traflic system comprising a guide-rail for the motor carand a clamp mechanism for coupling the motor car to the guide railconsisting of clamp jaws provided with anti-friction rollers withgrooved engaging faces for the rail, pointed deflector fingers formed onsaid jaws and coactingto remove obstructions from the rail, pivotalhangers for said jaws capable of movement around their pivots andlaterally thereto, a frame supporting the clamping mechanism andattached to the motor vehicle, pockets formed on the frame, guidesleading to said pockets, and a spring acting on said hangers and tendingto move the same laterallyaway from each other.

5. A motor car traflic system com rising a guide rail and a clamp forcoupling t e motor car to said rail consisting of a suitable framecoupled to a portion of the steering gear of the motor car, pockets withdivergent mouths carried by said frame, hanger plates also carried bysaid frame, pivotal supports for said hanger plates permitting the saidhanger plates to swing in the direction of travel of the motor car andalso laterally thereto, clamp jaws carried by said hanger plates andprovided with grooved roller clamping faces, coacting deflector fingerson said jaws for removing obstructions from the rail, a spring acting onthe jaw-carrying hangers and tending to move the same laterally, andconnections from the clamp to the motor car body for manipulating saidclamp.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as -my own, I have heretoaflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses:

ROBERT T. YATES.

Witnesses:

A. S. RIFE, WM. M. h/lORGAN.

